WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — On Friday, President Joe Biden and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that North Carolina will receive a $1.09 billion discretionary federal grant to build the first segment of the S-Line. That will be a passenger rail line to connect communities in North Carolina to Virginia.
“This is great news and underscores our successful efforts to build a transportation system that works for all North Carolinians,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a press release. “[It] provides people, especially those in underserved areas, a safe, convenient and inexpensive way to get where they’re going.”
The grant would cover the cost of constructing the first phase of the Raleigh to Richmond Innovating Rail Program. That covers the rail corridor from Raleigh to Wake Forest. When it’s finished, this passenger rail service could save more than an hour of travel time between the two cities.
The money is part of the more than $8 billion being awarded throughout the nation from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Also Friday, the federal rail agency awarded the NCDOT seven more grants to cover the cost of plans for other rails. These seven grants total $3.5 million. One of the potential rail service plans would connect Winston-Salem with Raleigh. The other potential services connect:
- Charlotte and Atlanta
- Charlotte and Kings Mountain
- Charlotte and Washington, D.C.
- Fayetteville and Raleigh
- Wilmington and Raleigh
- Salisbury and Asheville
The $1.09 billion grant marks the largest grant the NCDOT has received to date.
Source: WXII 1
